Glossary Of Terms

A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M
N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X    Y    Z

A

act   A major section of a stage play, equivalent to a chapter in a novel. An act is often divided into scenes.
adaptation   The process of rewriting a text to change it from one genre to another (such as adapting a novel into a movie). A work resulting from such adaptation.
advertorial   A combination of advertising and editorial comment. Advertorials may be advertisements designed to look and read like news reports.
alliteration   The repetition of consonant sounds. An auditory device in which consonants are repeated at the beginning of several words that are close together ("And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste" —Shakespeare).
allusion   A brief direct or indirect reference to a figure, place, event, idea, or object from myth, religion, history, literature, society, or popular culture. The writer assumes that the reader is familiar with the reference.
assonance   The repetition of vowel sounds. An auditory device in which vowel sounds are repeated within a line of poetry ("In zones of silence they grow tall and slow" —P.K. Page; "And all is seared with trade, bleared, smeared with toil" —G.M. Hopkins).
audience   The people who read, hear, or view a literary, nonfiction, or media work. The audience may be limited and specific, such as nuclear scientists, or broader. Effective writers take into account key characteristics of their intended audience, such as age range and background knowledge.
auditory device   Any arrangement of letters, syllables, words, and phrases that appeals particularly to the ear. See alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia.

B

broadcast journalism   Journalism presented on radio or television.

C

characterization   The techniques used to portray a fictional character or an actual person in writing or a media text. These techniques include presenting details of physical appearance; presenting the character's thoughts, actions, and words; and revealing what other characters think of the character.
conflict   The struggle of the characters in a story to resolve a problem results in conflict, which often advances the plot. Conflict can be internal (psychological) or external (among characters, or between characters and larger forces such as society, nature, or fate).
couplet   Two adjacent lines of poetry, often with an end rhyme ("For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings,/That then I scorn to change my state with kings." —Shakespeare).
cropping   Trimming a photograph or picture to enhance impact or focus attention.
cyberspace   A term used to describe the electronic realm of major computer networks, in particular, the "universe" where virtual reality is experienced.

D

dialect   A form of a language characteristic of a particular region or social group.
diction   The type of words chosen by the writer. Categories of diction include words that are concrete, abstract, formal, or informal.
dissolve   A video editing technique where one image is faded out as another is simultaneously faded in.

F

fade-out   A gradual decrease in the brightness of an image or the audibility of a sound; a video editing technique used to signal a major transition or the end of a work.
figurative language   The use of words in nonliteral ways. Figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, and personification are examples of figurative language.
first-person point of view   When the narrator is involved in the events of the story, he or she is telling the story from a first-person point of view. First-person narrators can be unreliable, so the reader may have to figure out what is actually going on. See narrator, point of view, third-person point of view.
font   A set of type of one size and face; a style of typeface.
free verse   Poetry that does not have a regular pattern of rhythm, rhyme, or stanzas, but uses the natural rhythm of spoken language.

G

genre   A broad category of literary, nonfiction, or media text, such as short story, drama, essay, biography, documentary, or political cartoon.
graphic novel   A novel that relies heavily on graphic art. Typically, the only textual element in a graphic novel is the direct speech of the characters. All other story information is presented through paintings, drawings, collage, photographs, and other graphic media.

H

home page   The first page on a Web site. This page contains links to all the other pages on the site.

I

illustrator   Someone who creates graphic art to clarify or decorate a text. Illustrators frequently create pictures for children's literature, as well as images for newspapers, pamphlets, books, and animation.
image and imagery   In literary and nonfiction works, images are word pictures that appeal to the reader's senses and imagination; imagery refers to all the images in a work taken together. In media works, images function in the same way, though they are presented through the use of photography, video, graphic art, and sound.
infomercial   A television program that uses entertainment, information, or endorsements to sell or promote a product.
Internet   A worldwide network of interconnected computers that allows the movement of electronic information from point to point; often simply referred to as the Net.
inverted pyramid structure   An organizational structure in which information is presented in order of decreasing importance or interest. Often used in news reports.
irony   A statement or situation that suggests the opposite of what appears on the surface. Three common types of irony are verbal — saying one thing while implying the opposite; situational — expecting something different from what actually happens; and dramatic — when the reader or viewer knows something that the characters do not.

K

kicker   A smaller headline that appears below a main headline.

L

list server   A server that manages a list of electronic mailing addresses for a specific group of individuals. Typically, an individual chooses to be a part of a list serve in order to receive information updates and mailings regarding a specific topic of interest.
lyric poem   A fairly short, non-narrative poem expressing the consciousness and emotions of a single speaker.

M

magic realism   A style of writing or painting in which everyday activities and settings are infused with a touch of magic, mystery, or unreality.
mass media   Modern means of communication that appeal to and reach vast audiences; includes television, film, radio, newspapers, magazines, online publications, and Web sites.
media event   An event staged for media reporters by a group or business in order to gain publicity.
media text   A media message or product, such as a movie, advertisement, photograph, Web site, television program, or poster.
metaphor A device of figurative language in which one thing is compared with another by being completely identified with it ("A poem is a small machine made out of words." —William Carlos Williams). See simile.
metre   In poetry, a recurring rhythm of accented (stressed) and unaccented syllables. A metrical unit of one accented and one or more unaccented syllables is called a foot.
monologue   A long speech delivered by a character or person, often addressed directly to an audience and used to reveal the character's or person's thoughts; often referred to as a soliloquy within a drama. A monologue can also be a play with only one character.
multimedia   The combined use of several media.

N

narrative poem   A poem that tells a story.
narrator   The character or person who tells what happens in a literary, nonfiction, or media text. The narrator describes and interprets the setting, plot, and other characters or people. See first-person point of view and third-person point of view.
nonfiction   A written prose text aiming to convey ideas or information, primarily by dealing with events or people that are not products of the writer's imagination. Nonfiction includes biographical, reference, informational, philosophical, historical, scientific, and technical texts.
nonverbal factors   Nonverbal elements of a presentation that aid communication (e.g., gestures, posture, distance, eye contact).

O

onomatopoeia   An auditory device in which the sound of the word imitates the sound of the action or thing the word is associated with (such as buzz, chickadee, or splash).
organization   The structure or main method of arranging the content of a work. The most common methods are chronological — arranging details in the order in which they occur (a biography); spatial — arranging details according to their location (a description of a room); importance — arranging details in order of increasing or decreasing importance (a news story); cause and effect — arranging details according to cause and effect sequence (an analysis of a problem); and comparison — arranging details to show how things are similar or different (a formal essay discussing plays with similar themes).

P

personification   A device of figurative language in which something non-human is given human characteristics ("'Sky, what can you give me?'/and sky said, 'I can give you sunset.'" —Joy Kogawa).
plot   The main story of a fictional or dramatic work. The plot usually develops out of the struggle of characters to resolve a problem or problems. See conflict and subplot.
point of view   The position from which something is viewed or filmed or the perspective of the character or person telling the story.
product placement   Images or advertising placed within films and television shows in order to promote the sale of a particular product. Product placement is controversial because it blurs the distinction between advertising and other genres of media production.
props   In a dramatic production, movable objects such as furniture and handheld articles that are used to enhance the setting and, often, to advance the plot.
prose   Continuous non-metrical written discourse.
public relations   The art or science of establishing and promoting a favourable relationship with the public, often through a variety of means and employing a variety of media.
purpose   The main goal of a work, which generally is as follows: in fiction — to entertain, tell a story, or convey insight (as in a short story, a movie, a poem); in nonfiction — to describe or explain something (as in an encyclopedia article, a documentary film); in a media text — to inform or persuade the reader or viewer (as in a newspaper article or editorial, an advertisement).

Q

quatrain See stanza.

R

rhyme   The repetition of similar sounds at the ends of words, regardless of spelling (brigade/dismayed, eyes/cries, state/fate). In traditional stanza forms, rhymes appear at the ends of lines in a regular pattern, or rhyme scheme. Internal rhyme refers to rhyme within a line of poetry ("In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud" —Coleridge).
rhythm   The recurrent alternation of accented (stressed) and unaccented syllables in the words and lines of a poem. This may be regular, in which case it is referred to as metre, or it may be irregular, as in free verse.

S

scene   A self-contained episode in a work of drama or fiction.
search engine   A research tool used to find information on the Internet or within databases. Typically, a search engine allows a user to access information using keywords.
sentence structure   The types of sentences writers choose to use. Sentences can vary in length and may take the form of questions or commands. Writers may also vary sentence patterns or repeat them deliberately.
sestet   See stanza.
set and set design   In a dramatic work, the design and arrangement of physical elements such as scenery, props, lighting, and sound. Sets are crucial for the effective setting of works.
setting   The place, time, and social circumstances in which a work is set. The place can be real or imaginary; the time can be past, present, or future, and may be a particular season or time of day (midsummer, or midnight) or a particular occasion (an eclipse, a battle). Setting helps create a mood or atmosphere. In a dramatic work, setting is also communicated by the set.
short story   A fictional prose story shorter than a novel, having a plot that focuses on several characters and a single theme.
shot list   A list of all the shots needed to create a completed video.
simile   A device of figurative language in which one thing is compared to another using the words "like" or "as" ("Justice is like an open field" —Rita Joe). See metaphor.
soliloquy   See monologue.
sonnet   A single-stanza lyric poem of 14 lines with a particular rhyme pattern. Each line usually has five metrical units or feet.
spread   A story or advertisement occupying two or more adjoining columns of a magazine or newspaper; two facing pages of a publication, such as a newspaper or magazine, viewed as a single unit.
stanza   A group of lines making up a unit of a poem, often partly defined by rhyming words and signalled by a blank line in the printed text. Common stanza forms are couplets (two lines), quatrains (four lines), sestets (six lines), and octets (eight lines).
storyboard   A graphic organizer used to plan the integration of visual, textual, and audio material in video production.
structure   See organization and sentence structure.
style   In written works, a writer's choice and arrangement of words. The main elements of style are diction, figurative language, and sentence structure. A writer's stylistic choices develop the narrator's voice and convey the writer's attitude toward the subject and the audience for a piece of writing.
subplot   An author can use secondary action in a fictional or dramatic work to make an independent but related story—a subplot—that enhances the meaning of the main action or plot.
symbol   An object or character that represents an idea, value, or condition beyond itself (a dove to represent peace, scales to represent justice).

T

tabloid   A newspaper of small format giving news in condensed form, usually with illustrated, often sensational, material. At one time, the term tabloid simply referred to the size of paper that news was presented on, with a tabloid being the smaller paper size and a broadsheet the larger size. However, the term now refers more to the type of information presented in the paper. Tabloids are known to present celebrity gossip and other sensational stories, which more serious newspapers may not choose to present.
target audience   The intended audience of a media production or presentation.
telegenic   Like the term photogenic, a term to describe a person who looks good on a TV screen; suitable for televising.
text   The print, oral, or visual form through which content is communicated.
theme   The key point, or central message, of a work. This can be either explicit, as it usually is in nonfiction and media works (such as in a research or news report), or implicit, as it usually is in works of fiction and poetry. Also referred to as the main idea or thesis in nonfiction works.
thesis   The main idea of a work, used especially with reference to works of nonfiction (such as formal essays and research reports). The thesis of a work is usually presented explicitly in a thesis statement at the beginning of the work.
third-person point of view   When the narrator is not a character or person in the action and speaks of other characters or people in the story or text either by name or as "she," "he," or "they," the writer is telling the story from a third-person point of view. The third-person narrator is an unseen observer who moves freely through the story, presenting what happens from both the outside (setting and plot) and the inside (the feelings and thoughts of the characters). See first-person point of view.
tone   In writing, a writer's attitude toward a subject or audience, conveyed through the writer's style.
transitions and transitional devices   Editorial elements of a presentation used to signal changes between images or ideas (e.g., repetition, balance, fade-out, dissolve).

U

URL   An abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator or, more simply, an Internet address.

V

virtual reality   A simulation of reality created by video and audio programming in which the user experiences and interacts with an artificial environment as though it were real.
visual production factors   Visual devices used in video or verbal presentations to clarify ideas, communicate information, or maintain audience interest (e.g., colour, contrast).
voice   In writing, a writer's or a character's distinctive style of expression.
voice production factors   Devices used in verbal presentations to clarify ideas, communicate information, or maintain audience interest (e.g., volume, tone, stress).

W

Web page   A page of text and/or graphics within a Web site. A single data file on the World Wide Web that can include text, sound, and graphics, as well as hypertext links to other files.
Web site   A location on the World Wide Web consisting of a home page and other files connected to the home page by hyperlinks.
World Wide Web   A network of linked hypertext files, stored on computers around the world and accessible by the Internet